Comic-Con 2011: Our Favorite Moments

After attending pressroom after pressroom for the numerous television series being represented at Comic-Con, you begin notice certain hilarious trends occurring. This year, one trend involved Fox Asia. With a reach of 47 million homes around the world, Fox Asia would continuously conduct video interviews with the various talent and conclude it with a request for them to give a “shout out” to all their viewers… and this is where the hilarity began.

As it turns out, when asked to speak to the “Fox Asia audience,” many of the actors/actresses referenced “Asian” in so many unintentionally inappropriate ways that after each one the producer/cameraman would look at each other, laugh, and say, “Well, we can’t use that.”

[NOTE: Although that’s Sons of Anarchycreator Kurt Sutter in the photo above, he’s not one of the people we’re talking about. Mr. Sutter minded his manners well – this is simply the only photo of the elusive FOX Asia team that we had.]

Here are of some of the “shout outs” that will never make it to air (without naming names):

“Hey, this is [actor name] from [show name], and I just want to give a shout out to all our Asian fans. We love Asians! Asians are the coolest! We love so many Asian things: Asian food, Asian clothing. You Asians are the best!”

“Hey, this is [actor name], and I’d like to thank all the Asians for watching [show name]. What would the world be without Asia, and what would our show be without our Asian fans? I don’t even want to think about it. Yo, Asians, you rock!”

I was fortunate enough to interview several celebrities at Comic-Con this year but none can hold a candle to the experience I had speaking with Hugh Jackman. He made a surprise appearance on the first day of the convention to promote his upcoming film Real Steel – and he sure knows how to work a crowd. Since the event wasn’t held inside the main convention center, but rather in a parking lot outside of Petco Park, it was open to anyone in the area. Not only did Jackman have the crowd mesmerized and eating from the palm of his hand – he surprised two attendees by taking them to the L.A. premier of his new movie.

His pleasant attitude didn’t stop there; he spent over two hours speaking to members of the press and then an additional 30 minutes signing autographs for anyone who asked him. Jackman knows that without the comic book fans and the first X-Men film, his career wouldn’t be where it is today – this is something he has said numerous times, and he has a truly thankful attitude at all times. I was a fan of his before, but I have nothing but the utmost respect for him now.

At the press roundtables for the FX show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, we got our own dose of the Danny DeVito we’ve grown to love in the show. It would appear his character in Always Sunny, the grungy Frank Reynolds, may not be such a departure from DeVito’s real personality. As he sat down for our roundtable, he took out his purple iPhone and began making grumbling noises similar to that of his Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot character in Batman Returns.

The photo he was so anxious to take was of three other members of the press – three female members. He kindly asked me to step away from the frame as he wanted only the three lovely ladies in his shot. But the picture took him an awkwardly long time to take – insert your own assumption as to why. He mumbled and grumbled his way through the picture, and concluded it with a hearty “Thank you,” and the creepiest laugh I’ve ever heard in my entire life. While this moment may not top some of his other headline-friendly press moments in the past, it was certainly a highlight for me at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con.

Nothing can really beat my participation in the Joss Whedon dance party at last year’s Con, but there were some truly fun and entertaining moments this year. Mike and I had an intense, but great time, managing the juggling act of doing a press line for seven movies at once and talking with Marc Webb, (a pre-arrest) Rhys Irans, Kate Beckinsale and many more. I must admit however (and I’m not sure what this says about me) that my favorite moment was watching Gina Carano beat the living tar out of Michael Fassbender in the footage that was screened at the Haywire panel — and then talking to her about it later in an interview.

Another gem from that panel was hearing director Steven Soderbergh say,”Matt Damon has the discretion of a fourteen year old girl” and that his retirement plans had been exaggerated. My only regret was that Soderbergh himself was not at the press line to interview. Otherwise, much fun was had by all.

As one of Screen Rant’s Comic-Con newbies, trying to distill a weekend’s worth of incredible experiences down into a few paltry sentences is more difficult than any of the work we actually did in San Diego. As far as geeky occurrences go, I suppose nothing tops the Game of Thrones panel, wherein bestselling author George R.R. Martin asked actor Jason Momoa who would win in a battle between his roles of Khal Drogo and the upcoming Conan the Barbarian. Seeing a respected novelist and TV writer ask such a fanboy question in the face of star power, even when they’re playing the roles that he wrote, shows that the Comic-Con attendees and the celebrities they come to see aren’t that different (at least in some ways).

But for sheer emotional impact, nothing beats Chuckleading man Zachary Levi’s heartfelt thank-you to the Chuck fans at the panel. Levi had to stop after recounting his joy at the work he’d done and the incredible support that’s kept Chuck on the air thus far – he broke into tears from the sheer gratitude for the fans, and the disappointment that the series will come to a close this season. It’s hard to explain if you weren’t there, but his excitement for Chuck and for Comic-Con was palpable, and his sincerity was unquestionable. Like many of the actors, writers and producers at the Con, Levi is a fan, too, and never was this made more clear than at that moment.

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So there you have it, the good, the bad, and the ugly of Comic-Con 2011. While we’re happy to be catching up on sleep right now, there’s no doubt that we miss our friends, favorite celebrities and all the movie goodness we can only get at the ‘Con each year. In fact, we’re already stocking up on No-Doze in anticipation of Comic-Con 2012. Hopefully we’ll see YOU there.

Gotta say though this years comic con fromt he perspective of those left behind left a lot to be desired. Usually we get cool information or big news and this year we got nothing for the most part. The absence of Avengers and TDKR in Hall H was hugely felt from this side of the event.

Also Kofi that picture is awesome. I agree his Macbook is pretty cool. I’m not even a fan of Macs lol

The abscence of TDKR didnt bother me,TDK didnt come either.
I dont think The Avengers needed to be there .
I enjoyed this Con, And I really appreaciated those Professionals who came out to see us this year.
Sorry, I missed Jackman though that would have been a real treat.